How to Make Dinner Rolls (with Pictures)

I got a request for a step by step tutorial on how to make dinner rolls when I had posted pictures of my "piggyrolls", so here it is! :3 Hope you guys like it! :P

Like I mentioned in my previous post, this is the yeast roll recipe that I use. It is my family's favorite (from Val)!


What you will need:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1-1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 3 eggs
• 6-3/4 to 7-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

How to make yeast rolls/dinner rolls:
1.) Combine shortening, sugar, and salt in a large bowl
2.) Stir in boiling water (1-1/2 cups)

3.) Crisco butter-flavored shortening, sugar, and salt SOUP! :P

Make sure to cool this mixture ("soup") down to 110°F to 115°F

4.) Take 2 tablespoons of yeast,
5.) and 1/2 cup of warm water (110°F - 115°F)

6.) Dissolve yeast into warm water.
7.) Take yeast mixture,
8.) 3 eggs,
9.) and 3 cups of flour

10.) and add it to the Shortening mixture (#3)
11). Beat (mix) until smooth.

12.) Stir in enough remaining flour,
13.) to form a soft dough.

 14.) Turn onto floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic for about 6-8 minutes.
15.) Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.

16.) Cover and let dry in warm place (I wet the towel with hot water),
17.) Dough should double in size in 45 minutes.

18.) *O*
19.) Punch dough down, turn onto lightly floured surface.

20.) Roll dough to 1/2" (inch) thickness.
21.) Cut (I'm using a pizza cutter :P) into equal sizes. For plain dinner rolls, you can fold circles in half and press edges to seal.

22.) Coat baking sheets/tray with cooking spray.
23.) Place your dough (bears) 2 inches apart.

24.) Cover and let rise until doubled (30 minutes).
25.) Bake at 400°F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

26.) Brush with butter (I just rubbed a butter stick on them :P)
27.) Delicious!

"YOU'RE SO CUTE, I COULD EAT YOU UP!"

These freeze very well after baking so I usually like to make a big batch and fill the freezer up with a whole bunch of these cute dinner rolls. Just pull them out of the freezer to thaw whenever you are ready to eat some!!! :3

Since Halloween is coming up, maybe you can try making them into spookier shapes. :P

Recipe: How to Make Panna Cotta (with pictures)

I enjoy baking and making desserts when I have some free time and one of my favorite sites I like to visit for recipes is JoyofBaking.com.  I like the site because it has many recipes along with clear pictures of the dessert and videos of how to make them. I find that I learn how to do something better by watching somebody else do it compared to just reading the instructions.
Today I wanted to try making Panna Cotta because it looked so easy to make! The link to the recipe is: here.
People who enjoy eating custard-like pudding will definitely like this treat!

The INGREDIENTS for this recipe is very simple:

1. 1 package of unflavored powdered gelatin (7 grams)
2. 1/4 cup cold milk
3. 2 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (I used half-and-half instead for mine)
4. 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar ( I used powdered sugar)
5. 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or pure vanilla paste)

 INSTRUCTIONS:

I used Knox Original Gelatine (unflavored).

 Inside the box, there are 4 packages. You only need 1.

 I measure out my cold milk (1/4 cups):

and sprinkled the powdered gelatin into the cold milk:

The powdered gelatin almost looks like sugar granules:

While waiting for the powdered gelatin to soften in the cold milk, we can start by heating up the sugar and heavy cream (or half-and-half in my case):

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 1/4 cup half-and-half and powdered sugar poured into a pan

 Cream looks like its heated enough:

 Going back to our powdered gelatin absorbing the cold milk...
This is how it looks like after the powdered gelatin has softened (it feels kind of spongy if you touch it :P):

The softened powdered gelatin looks ready to be stirred into the hot cream (or half-and-half); By the way, I've taken the cream off the heat:

Stir until the gelatin granules are all dissolved. The heat helps activate the gelatin.

Time for some vanilla flavoring!
I used 1/2 a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract:

And you're done!
All you need to do is gather some dessert cups or glasses that you want to pour your cream into.
I have mine all ready and lined up on the counter :3

This recipe filled about 6 of these small little glass cups:

 Put your dessert in the fridge until firm for about 2-4 hours:

 Once it was ready, I decided to garnish it with some fruit (kiwi and cherry) but you can top it with anything you like (chocolate sauce, fruit sauce, other fresh fruit, berries).

Nommy! A delicious cool creamy treat.

I made some Somosas for Dinner Today

Nommy...

I used the recipe for the dough from here.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour, all-purpose
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons water 

I just made my own filling though.
Inside there is potato, ground beef, carrot bits, and peas. :3

Piggyroll (Dinner Roll Recipe)

I decided to make some dinner rolls tonight because I haven't made them in a while. :p

What do you mean that doesn't look like a dinner roll? :P
HAHAHHAHAHAHHAAH!

Okay okay. I made one that's supposed to look like a piggy. :p

Say hello to Mr. Piggy Roll!

I did make regular-looking ones though (just in case you were wondering).

Here... Proof!

 Mr. Piggy Roll is just an experiment. I just wanted to know how much of the detail will be left after baking him.
I remember seeing a bear-shaped bread at Boudin and it looked soooo adorable! :P

So I stuffed Mr. Piggy Roll on to the baking sheet...

He was feeling a bit shy and distant from the other rolls.

Mr. Piggy was baked for 12 minutes...

All nice and buttered up!

HAHAHHAHAHA! I was so surprised to see that most of the details were still there. :P

I think I might shape ALL of my dinner rolls this way from now on! :P

I used this dinner roll recipe just in case you wanted to make your own. Try it! Its one of the best recipes I've tried.
So deliciously fluffy and flavorful.

 (Sorry about the picture quality... I used my phone since it was the closest thing to me while I was baking :P)

*~kAy~*'s Kitchen: Easy Sheperd's Pie

Sheperd's Pie is an English dish that is usually made with lamb or mutton but I used beef. It is basically a casserole that consists of meat (and vegetables) covered with a layer of mashed potatoes.

If this sounds like something you might like to eat, read on further to see how I make it :P

1. Start by boiling peeled and cut potatoes(2 large/3medium sized)  in salt water until they get soft (approx. 20 minutes).

2. While you are waiting for the potatoes to boil, cook your ground beef. I used about 1lb of ground beef. You can start by sauteing onions in butter/oil and if you want to add carrots, this would be a good time to do it as well. I usually like to add carrots but I didn't have any at home (so just pretend there are carrots in mine :P). Add and saute the ground beef into the onions until the meat is no longer pink. You can add peas and corn as well. Season to your liking (with salt, pepper, worcesterchire sauce, etc). You can also add beef broth to keep the meat moist if you like.

3. The potatoes should be done by then. Mash the potato and season to taste. I like to also add a bit of butter and cheddar cheese. :P

4. Line a baking dish with the cooked ground beef and vegetables.

All ready for the potato to be topped on!

5. Spread the mashed potato evenly on top of the meat.

You can use a fork (or the same spoon I used to scoop the potato in my case... I didn't want to dirty a fork) and form peaks in the potato so that it can brown nicely.

6. Cook in oven at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes (until it is brown and bubbling).

This is how mine turned out :P

This serves about 3-4 people.

How did does it look? :)
Do you have your own way of making Sheperd's Pie? Please share!